As the Oakland A’s pitched state lawmakers on contributing up to $380 million in public financing for a new $1.5 billion baseball stadium in Las Vegas, one word kept coming up: “waterfall.”
Bill supporters and lawmakers aren’t talking about natural river formations or TLC’s smash 1996 hit — waterfall in this context refers to a funding mechanism where tax revenue generated inside the stadium goes toward paying back public bonds, filling up reserve funds to backstop the bonds and more in a prioritized order.
But how does that waterfall actually work?
Under the legislation (SB1) — which the Legislature approved Wednesday and awaits Gov. Joe Lombardo’s signature — the stadium would sit in a “sports and entertainment improvement district” created by Clark County commissioners. Tax revenues generated within that district would be pooled together to pay off the public funding for the stadium, a concept known as “tax-increment financing” (TIF), also known in this case as a “mega-TIF” because it would use all tax revenues and fees generated within the district.
The Nevada Independent
by Sean Golonka, Tabitha Mueller & Jacob Solis
June 15th, 20